


a promise of wings

by summoner_yuna_of_besaid



Series: thick skin, elastic heart [5]
Category: Final Fantasy VIII, Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Family, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff, Gen, Hints of Rinoa/Squall, Hints of Squall/Cloud, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-08
Updated: 2015-10-08
Packaged: 2018-04-25 11:56:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4959721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/summoner_yuna_of_besaid/pseuds/summoner_yuna_of_besaid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Sora is chosen for the Keyblade, Leon takes him under his wing.  Troubled by the parallels between them, Leon grows far too fond of the boy, to the point that it could jeopardize his role as the Keyblade Master.  A hero must put destiny and the fate of the worlds before their own lives and the lives of their allies.  But a father could never do such a thing to his son.</p><p>Squall's childhood was stolen from him by war.  Leon won't let it happen to Sora.</p>
            </blockquote>





	a promise of wings

# a promise of wings

~---~---~

 

_His first instinct is to scream no.  To grab this kid and take the keyblade from his hands, but he’d already tried that.  He’d fought the kid upon sight, so sure that once he won easily and proved his great strength and ability, the Keyblade would change its owners._

_But the blade is stubborn.  It’s Sora, or no one.  They can’t afford no one._

_So, he does the next best thing; he does every fucking thing he can to keep that boy safe.  He can’t protect him from destiny but he’ll protect him from everything else._

 

* * *

 

“So, Sora, what do you think of the place?”

The boy turns towards him, bright eyes glancing up.  “It’s cool I guess.”  Leon gets it; it’s nothing much, and the boy doesn’t seem the type to be impressed by real estate anyway.  It’s a single room townhouse, shoved into a corner of the Third District, without so much as a fridge or a microwave.  He’s working on that.

“It’s yours.”

Sora blinks.  “… What?”

Leon, crossing his arms, glances around.  “I said you’d have a place to stay.  Somewhere to rest while you’re traveling.” 

Stunned eyes dart around the room with renewed interest, the boy’s mouth gaping.  “All of this?  For me?”

“That’s right!”  Yuffie chimes in from the corner, keeping Sora from noticing the frown the boy’s words had put on Leon’s face.  _All_ of this?  It’s not a lot.  It’s a tiny room with a bed and a table.  A bunch of the old records they’ve kept over the years are shoved into a corner, what’s left of the research from Radiant Garden and what they’ve cobbled together over the years.  That takes up half the damn space.  But Sora’s looking at it all like the holidays came early.

“But I can’t pay for it!”

“It’s paid for, stupid.”  Cid smacks him on the back.  “How’s a kid supposed to pay for his room ‘n board, anyway?  That’s for adults to think about.”

Leon notices the boy’s eyes are watery when he turns to the pilot.  “But… you guys didn’t have to do this.”

Something in his chest tightens, and he finds himself moving forward.  “Sora.”  The boy turns, and Leon kneels in front of him, one hand on his shoulder.  “I told you when this began we’d be helping you.  You aren’t doing this alone.”

“But, really,” Yuffie begins, “the house was all Leon.”  The man resists the urge to glare at the girl when Sora turns to her.  “He found it, paid for it all at once, bought the furniture and everything.”

“Really?” Wide, shining eyes turn to him and from this close Leon’s almost overwhelmed by the intensity of emotion in them.  He can’t hold the gaze.  To escape it, he turns away and stands up.

“I did what I could.”  He’d run out of munny and time before Sora came back, but he’d keep working at it.  Give him another week he’d have that damn fridge.  Guilt rises up his throat. “Sorry it’s not –“

One hundred twenty pounds of teenager crashes into his chest, halting the words.  Instinctively Leon raises his arms to catch him, stunned at the action and the tears streaming down the boy’s face.  His shirt is soaking through, but all he does is hold the kid, reveling in the thin arms wrapped around his waist.  How small they are, and how great a weight they carry.

 

* * *

 

The moment Leon hears that Sora is back in town, he drops what he’s doing and heads to the house.  He makes one stop, dropping off a collection of shards and gems for an employer and picking up his pay.  But it’s not long before he’s walking through the front door to see Sora sans shirt trying to cast a heal on his own back.

There’s blood on the floor, dripping from a long ash across his left shoulder, a jagged, gaping wound.  Sora looks up when he enters, and the boy smiles.  His teeth are gritted and Leon sees his eyes are irritated.  Clearly he’s in a lot of pain.  But he just smiles.

“Hey, Leon!”  The man crosses the room and gestures to a chair by the table. 

“Sit.”

Blinking, the boy does so.  Leon moves to the cabinet and grabs the first aid kit, turning to see Sora sitting face forward.  He rolls his eyes.  “The other way.”

It takes a moment to occur to him – then he goes, “oh”, and spins around, his chest pressed to the back of the chair.  Leon sits on another chair and sets the kit on the table.  “What’s that for?"

“What do you think?”  Leon shakes his head.  “You can’t use magic all the time.”

“… oh.” 

“That’s what you’ve been doing, isn’t it?”  The boy’s sheepish smile is answer enough.  It turns into a grimace when Leon takes out the antiseptic.  “What happened to the medical kit I bought you?”

“It uh – OW!  It’s on the gummi ship somewhere, I think?”  The boy hisses through his teeth.  Every gasp of pain is a sharp stab through the man’s heart but he hardens himself to it.  “Donald and Goofy only ever use magic.”

“They’re… whatever the hell they are.  Toons, I think they’re called.”  Leon begins digging back into the bag, looking for Aerith’s preventative.  “They rely heavily on magic, it’s practically what they’re made of.  But you’re human.  If you don’t let your body heal naturally, it may begin to grow dependent on magic and stop healing by itself.  Or, over time you could grow resistant and need more and more magic to heal.”

“You know I think this is the longest I’ve ever heard you talk.”  For that, Leon flicks his ear.  “Ow!  Hey, I’m in pain here!”

The man’s smile falls.  “Sorry,” Guilt wracks him – not for the little tease but for the reality of the situation, the fact that he’s about to sew up a fifteen year old boy’s soon to be battle scars.

Sora glances back at him, eyes wide with concern.  “I was just joking.  I’m fine!”  His look falls at the first pass of the needle, but he smiles through the wince.  It’s enough to make Leon want to cry. 

For the rest of it they sit in silence.  Leon remains intent on his task, trying to ignore all the winces and cries, the clenched hands on the boy’s knees.  He bits his own lip until its bleeding, until finally, finally he’s done, he closes it off, cleans it one more time, and patches it over with gauze and bandages.

At the end of it, Sora slumps forward in relief.  “Thanks, Leon.”

 _For what?_   The man frowns deeply, turned away.  _For putting you into this?  For not being good enough for the keyblade so a little kid had to be picked instead?_

“I mean it.”  The certainty in the boy’s tone makes him look up.  Sora’s eyes are serious, narrowed, as he puts on his jacket, having already pulled the strange one-piece red shirt back up.  “You’ve done so much for me, I – I don’t know what to say.”  At this moment, shoulders shaking and a weak smile on his face, the boy looks so young.  “No one’s ever done so much for me.  I mean Riku and Kairi have always been there but –“

“But they aren’t adults.”  They aren’t capable of providing shelter and food and everything that Leon’s currently paying for.  “What about your parents?”

Sora’s eyes drift off, he shrugs, then winces at the movement, grabbing at his shoulder.  “I never knew them.  Me, Kairi, and Riku lived together in an orphanage.”

Well if that didn’t explain fucking everything.  Leon’s throat dries up and it takes him a minute to speak.  “I see.”  He almost doesn’t say it – but then it slips out.  “I did, too."

“You what?”  Confused, the boy blinks.  “Oh, you – you’re an orphan?”

“Well, I was.”  He scratches the back of his head.  “I lived in an orphanage until – “  Until he was drafted by a paramilitary school – “until later.  My dad found me.”

Sora’s eyes go wide as dishplates.  “That’s amazing!  What’s he like?  Is he a swordsman, too?  Is he – oh.”  The enthusiasm dies.  “Is he gone?”

Leon turns to the makeshift kitchen, eager to escape this conversation.  “I don’t know.”  He opens the door and starts digging, pulls out a beer for himself and then makes Sora a glass of water.  “You hungry?”  He gestures to the crock pot in the corner.  He’d been making it for later, to save for when Sora returned, but this is better.  Now it’s hot and fresh. 

The conversation turns to various things over dinner: Sora’s quest and elaborate retellings of his many adventures; short anecdotes of Leon’s work around the town; discussions of the boy’s studies and his progress.

“I think I’ve finally got that time magic stuff down!”  The boy insists strongly.  “Seriously!”  Even as Leon shakes his head fondly.

“I’ll believe it when I see it.”  At that, the boy leaps up, leaving his second empty plate on the table.  He picks up the salt shaker, tosses it in the air, and before it can fall summons his Keyblade.  With a flick of his wrist the magic springs to life, and the shaker stops midair.

“Not bad.”  Leon smirks at the big grin on the boy’s face.  “But how are your slow and haste spells going?”

The smile falters.  “Well… not… great?”  Sora looks like he’s anticipating a reprimand, girding himself, but Leon just shrugs.

“I figured as much.”  The boy lets the keyblade fade away and sits back down.  “Time magic is difficult to master.  I’m honestly surprised you’ve got Stop down so well.”  The huge grin comes back, followed by a red flush.  It has Leon’s heart fluttering with warmth, and he finds himself talking more.  “When I was a kid, I put too much energy and focus into a haste spell, and it overshot the target and turn a little seedling into a giant oak tree.  It overgrew into one of the buildings and busted up a classroom.”  Leon chuckles to himself at the memory.  “Seifer never let me forget it.”

“Whose Seifer?”

The name from another’s lips makes his smile weaken.  It’s been so long since he’s let himself really think about him… about any of them.  “An old friend.”  Leon sighs.  “Someone I grew up with.  A rival, more than a friend, really.”

“That kinda sounds like Riku and me.”  Sora says.  “But we are friends, too, I mean –“ Eyes darkening, he looks to the table.  “I think we are.”

Leon examines the boy’s face, wishing he knew something to say or do to make it better.  Feeling restless, he stands and clears the table, grabbing the salt shaker out of the air as he does.  Better not to let the spell run until it falls.  He wracks his mind for something to tell the boy, some way to cheer his spirits, wishing that any of his friends – old or new – were here to do this.  He’s not good at talking to people about anything, let alone feelings.

“Seifer turned on me once.”  He dumps the dishes in the sink, turns on the water, and gets cleaning.  It’s a convenient excuse not to look at Sora as he talks.  “It was – a complicated situation.  There was a war, he ended up on one side, I was on the other.  A lot happened… but in the end, when the dust settled, we were standing side by side again.  It just took us a while to get there.”

Shaking his head, he smiles. “I don’t think it will be as hard for you as it was for us.  I was…” An idiot.  “Not good at making friends.  I couldn’t reach Seifer in the darkness.  But I _know_ you can reach Riku.”

The last plate is cleaned, the sink is empty.  Bereft of excuses, Leon turns around.  Sora’s sitting at the table, eyes soft and warm, a fond smile on his face.

“Thanks, Leon.”

“Call me…”  It catches in his throat – he can’t believe he’s saying it.  “You can call me Squall, if you want.”  Sora blinks, eyes wide.  “It’s my real name. Leon is – well, part of my last name.  Leonhart.”

“Squall Leonhart?”  He sounds it out, not quite right but close enough.  “That is so cool.  That sounds like a hero’s name!  Mine’s stupid.”

Red to his ears, Leon shakes his head.  “What are you talking about?”

Sora stands, fists clenched in excitement.  “My name’s Sora Nomura.  That’s not anywhere near as cool.”

The man shrugs.  He has no idea what to say to any of this.  He rarely knows what to say to anyone, least of all Sora.  The boy’s always so happy and carefree and open-hearted despite everything that’s been thrown at him, despite everything that rests upon him.  So unlike Leon when he was that age.  Eventually, he settles with, “You should get some rest.”

“I’m not tired.”  Yet, he yawns a moment later, arms stretched over his head.  Leon chuckles.  “Okay, okay, I got it.”  The boy disappears into the bathroom for a few minutes, as Leon cleans down the kitchen corners.  When he returns, he’s wearing a thin black tank top and baggy blue pajama pants, not to mention the silver necklace he never seems to remove.  His clothes are strewn across the bathroom, and Leon picks them up as the boy collapses into bed.  Sora sees him with his clothes and winces.

“Oops, sorry.”

Leon just shakes his head fondly and takes a seat across the house, in front of the small TV he’d bought a few weeks ago.  He looks over the articles of clothing one by one, spotting blood and tears that need fixed.  He’ll wash them in the morning, but for now, he picks up his sewing kit and gets to work patching the thing back together. 

“Hey, Leon?”

The man glances behind him to the bed, where Sora lays with his arms behind his head, above the covers, just resting.  Leon inclines his head inquisitively.  The boy turns to look at him.  “Just… thanks.” 

“Go to sleep kid.”  Leon smiles in spite of himself, and returns to work.  He needs to finish this tonight because he won’t have time tomorrow, and undoubtedly Sora will be gone by the end of the weekend.  He has a shift on patrol in four hours, taking over the Third District for Cid, and then in the morning he has to go repair that electrical line that the Heartless damaged… then it’s back to the house for Sora’s breakfast and training, then a patrol shift in the Second District with Yuffie… not to mention Sora’s supplies need restocking, not to mention the kids food and necessities… he wonders if Cid’s looked at the kid’s ship in a while and makes a note to ask him in the morning…

As his thoughts wander over these duties, he hears a quiet whisper, a murmur barely audible.  If he hadn’t been trained to always be listening to his surroundings, he may not have heard it at all.  But he does, and for a moment, his heart stops in his chest.

“Sora Leonhart,” The boy whispers to himself, like he’s trying on the name the way you would a set of clothes.  He smiles to himself.  Apparently he likes how it fits.

Leon says nothing; reveals nothing in his outward appearance, but inside his heart thunders in his chest and he feels a little outside of himself.  When the boy finally drifts off and begins snoring a little, he can’t help it; a great big smile spreads over his face, eyes crinkling, cheeks red with happiness.

 

* * *

 

There has to be another way.  He’s looking at it from all sides and he can’t see one but there has to be, _has_ to be.

The boy has done so much for them, so much for so many people.  He’s saved worlds.  Saved lives.  Fought countless battles he never should have had to be a part of.  And here they are, standing in the ruins of Hallow Bastion, speaking of the boy making a sacrifice that shouldn’t be asked of anyone.

“No,” The words fly from his mouth.  “He can’t.”

“Leon –“  Aerith’s voice is sympathetic, kind.  He ignores her. 

“There has to be another way.”

“Ansem has to be defeated!”  The squeaky voice of the duck grates on his ear’s on the best of days, and today is not that.

“Not by a kid!  Not by throwing his life away!”

“Don’t I get a say in this?”  Sora crosses his arms.  “Haven’t I proven myself yet?  I can do this!”

Leon hesitates, sighing.  “It’s not – It’s not about whether you can, Sora, but you shouldn’t have to.  You’re fifteen!  You should be worrying about grades and getting a date, not saving the universe!”  Leon throws his hands up.  “I let it slide all this time because I figured that as long as we had your back and you were safe, it would be okay.  And you adjusted to it all so well.  New worlds, fighting, magic, it came to you naturally.  And you were safe.”

“But where you’re talking about going – we can’t protect you there.  Nothing can.  We know nothing about the World of Darkness.  Just being there could taint you.  And when you defeat Ansem?  What happens then?  Are you trapped there?  Will it vanish and you go with it?"

“I don’t know!”  Sora throws up his arms.  Behind him, his friend Kairi watches with wide, concerned eyes.  “But I do know that Ansem has to be stopped, and I’m the only one who can do it.  So I have to try, and I’ll accept the consequences.”

 No, there has to be another way.  But there isn’t, and the realization cracks his armor and stabs through to his heart like shards of ice – _like an ice spell flying past Rinoa at his chest, and he’s falling and_ –

“This shouldn’t be your burden.”  Leon whispers, fists shaking at his side.  “I – “ _I’ve lost so many, and I can’t –_ “I can’t lose you.”

Sora’s expression falls, the steady determination replaced by a soft sorrow that weakens him further.  “Leon…”  As one, the man falls to his knees and Sora runs forward into his arms.  He clutches the kid to his chest tight as he can, as if he can keep him there and keep him safe forever.

“Damn it, kid,” Leon murmurs, a single tear falling down his face.  His thoughts go unsaid.  How’d you dig your way into my heart like this?  How’d you get past all my barriers and become so important to me?

Sora hears them anyway.  He leans away, grinning despite the tears running down his face.  “I know.  I’m a brat, right?”

Leon chuckles.  “Right.”

“Don’t worry.”  He says seriously.  “I promise I’ll come back.”  He looks up, glancing all around, his eyes falling especially heavily upon Kairi.  “I promise I will.”

“We know, Sora.”  Aerith says softly.  “It’s just – hard, knowing we can’t help.”  Everyone gathered agrees with her; Cid, Cloud, Yuffie, and Kairi, as well as Donald and Goofy.

“I hate waiting around for the end to come!”  Yuffie grabs her hair and pulls it.  “Like when Spiky fought Sephiroth all by himself and all we could do was wait around for him in Gramps stupid old ship –“

“Watch your mouth you bratty little -!”

Leon listens to little of this.  He’s faded away, into a reverie.  Something’s occurred to him.  For a moment he thinks he hears a familiar giggle, and then his back feels so warm.  And he remembers – remembers falling into darkness, being protected by light. 

“Guys,” He speaks to the group.  “I –“  He hesitates.  “This will probably sound strange.  But I’m gonna talk for a second, and I need all of you to be quiet.”

They share confused glances, but he gets nods and affirmations all around.  Then, he stands, and Sora backs away, watching him curiously.

He takes in a deep breath, then looks up.  “Rinoa?  Can you hear me?”

Everyone looks around as if expecting someone; only Aerith keeps her eyes on Leon, curious.  Leon’s gaze stays steadily upward.  “I can feel you there.  Can you hear me?”

A wind bursts through the room suddenly, strong and blistering.  Leon shields his eyes, and when it dies down he sees fluttering in the air before him a single white feather.  He smiles. 

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.  He decides to use it.

“First off, I guess I should apologize.”  He chuckles when the wind gets a momentary burst of speed at that, as if chiding him.  “I’m sorry I never tried to come home.  But I couldn’t leave the fight yet.  I stayed to help this kid with his destiny and now, he needs your help.”

Leon moves forward, and kneels before Sora again.  “The kid’s about to run blind into the Darkness to save all of us.  I can’t do anything to help him but I know you can.”  He glances up.  “You saved me from the Darkness.  You cast a spell of protection on me that’s still there.  Give it to the kid.”  His voice fails.  “Please, Rinoa.  He – he means a lot to me.”  Leon’s gaze meets Sora’s, and the boy’s eyes are wide, bewildered, and also very touched.  “You’d like him.  He’s a lot like you.”

Suddenly, a burst of light fills the room, gasps and outcries taking everyone by surprise.  A warmth fills him, and Leon would swear he heard the sound of wings.  For a moment it’s like he’s being embraced, and he thinks he hears her voice but he can’t make out the words.

When the light clears, everything has returned to normal.  He can tell she’s not there anymore; where she is, he doesn’t know.  But now, perhaps she knows where he is, and will come for him.  Perhaps… perhaps he will see his loved ones again.

But that can wait.  Leon looks to Sora, who is bug eyed.  “Turn around.”  Confused, the boy listens, and when he turns Yuffie gasps and Leon grins in triumph.

Upon the back of the boy’s black jacket, in crimson red, are a pair of wings.  “Just like the ones on your jacket, Leon!”  Yuffie practically bounces in place.

“What?  What is it?” Sora sheds the coat, turning it around to see.  His eyes go wide.  “What…?”

Standing, Leon smiles.  “A gift from an old friend.”  The boy turns to him.

“Rinoa?”

He nods.  “Our world was attacked by the Heartless, and I was taken by darkness.  Rinoa saved me.  She cast an enchantment that kept the darkness from taking my heart.  The same enchantment is on you, now.  Whatever happens… the darkness won’t take you.”

It still hurts.  By Hyne, it still hurts.  But he forces a smile.  “I believe in you Sora. I know you can do it.”  _I just wish you didn’t have to.  But as long as this is your destiny, I will face it beside you, however I can._

Sora beams.  “Thanks… Squall.”

* * *

 

The boy saves them.  The darkness is pushed back some, making way for light, and many of the worlds most recently destroyed were rescued.  Ansem’s Heartless is defeated, as is Maleficient, and the princesses are returned home.  

Leon and his team return to Hallow Bastion, to return the world to it’s former glory.  It’s not home for any of them, but Cloud, Aerith and the others have no home to return to, and Leon has no idea where home is.  The only connection he has is Hallow Bastion and the time he felt Rinoa there.  He hopes beyond hope she will find it, and him.  Until then, he waits. 

The work is backbreaking, but it’s a distraction.  It helps him ignore the fact that he has no idea where Sora is, or if he even survived, even though he has all the faith in the world in the boy and Rinoa’s protection he can’t help but fear and doubt and blame himself for ever letting it get this far –

Time passes.  Months turn into a year.  The boy is stolen from their memories and then, one day, returns all at once.  The realization sends Leon to his knees and he loses his lunch, barely making it to the trash in time.  He’s horrified.  He forgot Sora.  How in the world -?

Everyone had.  That makes him worry more.  Something has gone terribly wrong, and here he is, with no idea where the boy is or what he’s facing.  He’s more than helpless, he’s practically useless and every day he goes and stands at the bailey and looks out at the Old Castle and curses himself and that day he foolishly agreed to let a child fight an adult’s war.

Heavy boots approach behind him.  Leon doesn’t turn when Cloud comes to stand at his shoulder.

“He’ll be back.”  The man says.  Leon shakes his head.

“I should have gone with him.”  For all the good it would have done, at least he would have been there.  “I should have fought harder to make him wait.  He’s still so young.”

“Sometimes, the universe calls upon us for greater things when we are young.  Sora answered that call.”

“He’s a kid.”  Leon turns, grimacing.  “Sixteen, by now.  And he’s fighting a war.”

“I was a soldier at sixteen.”

“So was I!”  Leon huffs.  “And look how fucking great we turned out.”  He spins away.  “Your world is dead and mine is overwhelmed by Heartless, probably.  What good did we do?”

Cloud is quiet for a moment.  “We made it here.”  He says.  “To Sora.  And he’s made it farther than any of us.”  The man chuckles.  “You ever think that everything we did was just a prologue to his story?”

After a moment, Leon chuckles, and hangs his head.  “I wouldn’t doubt it.”  And to be honest, he wouldn’t mind much, either.  He really wouldn’t.  “Sora’s a better hero than I’ve ever been.”

“I don’t know about hero,” Cloud approaches, moving into Leon’s line of sight.  “But you are a good man, Leon.  Don’t doubt that.”  Leon rolls his eyes, looking away, fighting a flush at the warmth in the other man’s gaze.  But then, behind his shoulder, there’s a flash – a light on the horizon. 

“A gummi ship,” Leon mutters.  His eyes dart over it, but he can’t see it well.  “Can you -?”

Cloud turns.  His sharper, unnaturally bright gaze locks onto the craft.  “It’s them.”  He smiles, turning to the man.  Leon’s already half run out of the room.

Laughing, Cloud hangs back, allowing the other man space.  “You know,” He calls after him, “You make a pretty great Dad, too.”  He’s not sure Leon hears him.  That’s alright.  He would probably just protest anyway.

But don’t doubt it; no one else was more of a father to that boy, than the man who was willing to fight for him, to even fight him, to save him from everything else.

 

 


End file.
